


Just a Click

by RunningErrands



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Italy, M/M, Photography AU, Swimming AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-14 14:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5748496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunningErrands/pseuds/RunningErrands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles goes to Italy to meet Derek Hale, an Olympic hopeful in swimming.  His sister and Agent, Laura Hale is hoping to negotiate a contract for Stiles to be Derek's personal photographer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles ran through the crowds at the international Airport, racing to get to the guy he was supposed to be meeting.  He was used to travel, rushing through airports at top speed with his hand on his camera bag and hair mussed from sleeping on the plane.  He was not used to being late though.  He always made to schedule his flights to arrive at least three hours before he had to be anywhere so that he had a little time to look around the area and possibly get photos of anything interesting in and around the airport.  This was the first time in his entire career that he had been late to a meeting with a client.  Of course it had to be the first time he ever met with a client as interesting and important as Derek Hale.

Laura Hale, Derek Hale’s publicist and sister had reached out to Stiles just weeks previously.  He had done a simple spread for Sports Illustrated.  It was just a small article on Synchronized Swimming, and they’d only used two of his photos, but it was the biggest project he had tackled yet.  Laura Hale had seen it and contacted him, explaining that her brother was in dire need of some public appearances, but he didn’t like people and therefore needed a private photographer rather than just any old Joe.  She had done a scary amount of research, going as far as to reveal that she had met his father when she was in high school due to a misunderstanding with some firecrackers behind the high school.  They had talked for a little under an hour and she had decided that he was worth trying out.

All in all, the project sounded great.  That was, until Stiles looked up his client’s name.  Derek Hale was an Olympic hopeful in competitive swimming.  Stiles had never really been much of a swimmer.  Sure, he’d gone to the pool in the summers just like any other kid, but he’d never been that great at swimming.  Stiles wasn’t even sure that he had a pair of swim trunks in his closet anymore!  It was a complete surprise, but who was Stiles to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Stiles skidded to a stop in front of a pretty dark haired woman holding a sign that said ‘Stilinski’ on it with a bored expression on her face.

“I am so sorry.”  Stiles groaned, pushing his hair away from his face.  “The plane had a mechanical malfunction and they had to transfer us to different planes, and I ended up having to wait for a plane for four hours.”  He explained.

“I’m Cora.  Laura asked me to wait for you.  Derek’s not even done with his practice yet, so you’re fine.”  She shrugged, popping the gum in her mouth.  “Laura got you a room at the same hotel we’re at.  I think she said that she told you about how Derek’s not good with people right?  She was wondering if you’d be okay with maybe grabbing dinner a couple nights while you’re here, so that we all can get to know you a little better.”

“Uh, yeah.   That’s fine.”  Stiles nodded.  Having regular interactions with a client you were planning on working with, even if you were planning on working together for a while was a little unusual, but it also wasn’t necessarily a problem.  “Laura mentioned that she wanted to start with photos right away, something about getting Derek’s picture on the internet updated?”  
Cora snorted as she motioned for Stiles to follow her toward a sleek black car waiting outside.  “Yeah.  The most recent picture of his face on the internet is from 2013, and it was a struggle to get, and it’s awful.  Laura took it herself with her iphone, but it was right after Derek’s practice so he looks like grumpy drowned squirrel.”

“Yikes.”  Stiles laughed.  “We can definitely get that updated.”  

“Also…”  Cora sighed as she opened the door for Stiles.  “Just a warning.  Derek’s not just shy, he’s straight up anti-social…so don’t get too upset if he’s a bit of a jerk to begin with.  As long as you’re not an ass to him, he should warm up to you pretty quickly.”

“You talk about him like he’s a dog.”  Stiles laughed quietly.

Cora laughed.  “I guess we do.”  She shook her head good naturedly as she sat next to stiles in the back of the car.  “He’s just…Derek’s really special to us, okay?  Not just Laura and I, but also Boyd, Isaac, and Erica.”  She explained quietly.  “Isaac is driving the car right now, but I can introduce you two when we get to the hotel.  Isaac is Derek’s regular driver, Boyd is his trainer, and Erica is his nutritionist.  Just like you, they were all specially selected so that Derek could get to know them and work with them long term.”  

“Wow…that’s a lot.”  Stiles frowned a little.  This Derek guy sounded like he had serious issues, other than being anti-social.

“Yeah, just…trust me.  He’s a good guy.”  Cora smiled, sitting back as Isaac drove them to the hotel.

Stiles eyes widened as the hotel came into view.  It was definitely high class, and Stiles wondered if he’d even be let in, even though he was in one of his “businessy” outfits -- a heather gray undershirt covered by a white button up and brown cardigan with a pair of black, fitted slacks.  He simply looked like a college hipster, nothing like the businessmen he saw outside the car’s window.  

“Laura said that she wanted to meet with you at around 6pm, if that’s okay?  She’s going to bring Derek with so that you three can discuss a contract.  We’re in room 1106.  Laura’s probably just going to order room service, so if you have a problem with room service, feel free to eat ahead of time.”  Cora explained, handing Stiles a room key.  “You’re in room 1019.”  She nodded.

“Uh, thanks.”  Stiles nodded, grabbing his camera bag and his suitcase, giving a nod to both Cora and Isaac before heading into the hotel.  It was obnoxiously beautiful.  The walls were golden, marbled white, with rich red furniture laid out stylishly.  Immediately, Stiles’ hands went to his camera.  He lifted the camera to his face and shot a few photos, capturing the luxury.  He shook his head quietly, moving to the elevators in awe.  

When he got to the tenth floor and opened the door to his [room](http://www.hotelhasslerroma.com/uploads/images/Gallery/Thumbs/Hassler%20tmosconi%20142423_507%20Gr%20Del.jpg), his jaw dropped.  He’d been in Europe before, but the small, hostel he had stayed in wasn’t even close to the room in front of him.  It was simple, not even terribly remarkable in American standards, but in European standards, the amount of space in the room was wonderful.  Stiles even had his own private balcony!  Stiles sank into the cushions of his bed with a sigh.  It was already five, so he didn’t have much time to relax.  He decided to freshen up with the small amount of time he had.

He quickly showered away the grime of travel, and then dressed in his other “businessy” set of clothes, a simple checkered button-up and slacks.

Stiles took one last deep breath before opening the door to head up to Laura Hale’s suite.


	2. Objection Overrulled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets to meet Laura and Derek.

            Stiles knocked on the door of the Hales’ suite. A tall, pretty woman with dark hair and red lips opened the door.   _[Laura](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=89420122) _ his mind supplied.  She was dressed [business casual](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d9/22/22/d92222148ba637e73991a7d098bafb2f.jpg) with pair of bright red pants, black and white undershirt, and a black blazer.  Stiles immediately felt underdressed in his own version of [business casual](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a7/de/e0/a7dee03a13ea3b244c46dcf4e5e52cfa.jpg), but held out a hand for a handshake anyways.

            "Hi, I'm Stiles."  He smiled, hoping to make an excellent first impression.

            “Hey.” Laura smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you after so many phone calls and emails!”

            Stiles nodded. “Definitely.” He agreed, giving her hand a firm shake.

            “Well, come on in then!” Laura stepped back to allow Stiles into the room. It was all he could do to keep from gaping as he took in the large [suite](%E2%80%9CHey.%E2%80%9D%20%20Laura%20smiled.%20%20%E2%80%9CIt%E2%80%99s%20nice%20to%20finally%20meet%20you%20after%20so%20many%20phone%20calls%20and%20emails!%E2%80%9D%20%20%0A%09Stiles%20nodded.%20%20%E2%80%9CDefinitely.%E2%80%9D%20%20He%20agreed,%20giving%20her%20hand%20a%20firm%20shake.%0A%09%E2%80%9CWell,%20come%20on%20in%20then!%E2%80%9D%20%20Laura%20stepped%20back%20to%20allow%20Stiles%20into%20the%20room.%20%20It%20was%20all%20he%20could%20do%20to%20keep%20from%20gaping%20as%20he%20took%20in%20the%20large%20suite%20in%20its%20entirety.%0A) in its entirety.  Sure, his room had been wonderful, but this was on another level!  He saw four separate doors, probably three bedrooms and then a bathroom? 

            “Oh, hey.” Cora nodded from the couch in front of a large, modern TV. She was typing away at a tablet. “Big bro is still moping in his room, but he’ll be out soon. Or at least he will if Laura yells at him.” She shrugged.

            Laura flushed a little, glaring at Cora a little.

            “Sorry about that. I’ll just go grab Derek and we can order, sound good?” Laura asked. “I mean, we negotiated the contract over the phone, you’ll just have to sign it, and then we can just kind of get to know each other over dinner, so everything’s a lot less…uncomfortable.”

            Stiles nodded. “Whatever’s good for you guys. I’m up for anything.”

            Laura smiled and turned, stepping toward one of the doors. “Great! Feel free to grab a seat!” She knocked as she opened the door and stepped inside.

            Stiles looked around and felt a little bit of anxiety develop in his stomach. Everything looked so expensive! He was a little scared to even sit down at the small table, afraid he’d break it.

            Stiles looked at the art around the room as he waited. It seemed like it was taking an awful long time for Laura to return. How long could grabbing someone and pushing them out the door take? She said he was shy! She didn’t say that he’d be terrified of him or anything! The guy swims at competitions, Stiles was sure that he had to have talked to reporters and dealt with fans and paparazzi before!

            Just as he was thinking that, Laura emerged from the room, towing a large and  _very_ attractive man behind her.  

            “Sorry about that.” Laura smiled, pulling the man toward the table, putting her hands on his broad, muscular shoulders and pushed him down gently so that he was sitting in the chair. “Feel free to take a look at the menu or talk with Derek. I’ve just got to go dig the contract out of my luggage.” Laura explained.

            “Thanks.” Stiles nodded and picked up the room service menu. He glanced at Derek out of the corner of his eye. He had dark hair like his sisters, a little bit of stubble, tanned skin, probably from swimming outside in the warmer places they visited, and his EYES. Oh God, they were beautiful. All sorts of greens and blues and greys. Stiles let his eyes wander farther. It looked like Laura had forcibly tried to brush his hair, but he’d run his fingers through it again. Laura seemed to have succeeded in getting him into some nicer [clothes](%E2%80%9CSorry%20about%20that.%E2%80%9D%20%20Laura%20smiled,%20pulling%20the%20man%20toward%20the%20table,%20putting%20her%20hands%20on%20his%20broad,%20muscular%20shoulders%20and%20pushed%20him%20down%20gently%20so%20that%20he%20was%20sitting%20in%20the%20chair.%20%20%E2%80%9CFeel%20free%20to%20take%20a%20look%20at%20the%20menu%20or%20talk%20with%20Derek.%20%20I%E2%80%99ve%20just%20got%20to%20go%20dig%20the%20contract%20out%20of%20my%20luggage.%E2%80%9D%20%20Laura%20explained.%0A%09%E2%80%9CThanks.%E2%80%9D%20%20Stiles%20nodded%20and%20picked%20up%20the%20room%20service%20menu.%20%20He%20glanced%20at%20Derek%20out%20of%20the%20corner%20of%20his%20eye.%20%20He%20had%20dark%20hair%20like%20his%20sisters,%20a%20little%20bit%20of%20stubble,%20tanned%20skin,%20probably%20from%20swimming%20outside%20in%20the%20warmer%20places%20they%20visited,%20and%20his%20EYES.%20%20Oh%20God,%20they%20were%20beautiful.%20%20All%20sorts%20of%20greens%20and%20blues%20and%20greys.%20%20Stiles%20let%20his%20eyes%20wander%20farther.%20%20It%20looked%20like%20Laura%20had%20forcibly%20tried%20to%20brush%20his%20hair,%20but%20he%E2%80%99d%20run%20his%20fingers%20through%20it%20again.%20%20Laura%20seemed%20to%20have%20succeeded%20in%20getting%20him%20into%20some%20nicer%20clothes%20though,%20%0A) though, as he was wearing a tan jacket and a nice pair of jeans, even though he was obviously uncomfortable.  Then again, Stiles supposed the the uncomfortable posture could be due to the fact that he was just forced into a room with a stranger.

           

“Are you going to keep staring at me or actually look at the menu?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow, his mouth not moving from the scowl it was set in.

            Stiles jumped a little. “Sorry. It’s a bit of a photographer thing. Trying to get a look at your angles, and if I’ll need to reflect light upwards in order to bring out your eyes in the pictures. Things like that.” He partially fibbed. Hey, he had been looking at Derek’s eyes after all.

            “And will you?” Derek asked quietly, looking up at Stiles from where he was sitting.

            “Definitely.” Stiles coughed a little, his face heating a little. “Your eyes are light enough that if I reflect the light up, they’ll show up really well in your pictures. Or at least portraits anyways.”

            Derek seemed satisfied with the answer and turned his gaze back to his own copy of the menu.

            “Have you had the room service here yet?” Stiles asked, attempting to keep the conversation running.

            “None of us can cook, so yes.” Derek grunted.

            “What do you recommend then?” Stiles asked, really hoping that this whole cold shoulder thing was just temporary.

            “The Rabbit Cacciatore is good.”

            “Hmm…I’m more of a vegetable person myself.” Stiles shuddered at the idea of eating rabbit. Where he lived, rabbits were all over the place. Sure they were annoying, but he still didn’t like the idea of eating Little Bunny Foo Foo or Peter Cottontail.

            “Then the Panzanella is good.” Derek grunted.

            Stiles nodded. “Okay, Panzanella it is then.”

            “You’re just going to trust him on that?” Laura asked as she emerged from her room holding the contract.

            “I mean, why not? I can’t read Italian, so it’s a much better idea than trying to pick off of the menu. There aren’t any pictures…”

            Laura laughed. “Sorry! Derek should have offered to translate for you.” She bopped her younger brother on the head gently.

            “You speak Italian?” Stiles asked, smiling a little. “That’s pretty neat. I took Spanish in high school, and I still can’t say anything.”

            “He actually speaks multiple languages. English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, ASL…scowls, eyebrow movements.” Laura patted Derek’s head more gently.

            Derek flushed. “I’m not completely fluent in all of those. And a lot of them have common roots.” He argued, looking away.

            “No, my baby brother’s a genius. He just doesn’t want to admit it.” Laura laughed, before sitting down next to Derek. “Have a seat and we’ll get started. Derek doesn’t really know much about the contract, and I wanted to review it before you signed, so we can go through the major points.” Laura turned and looked to Cora. “Hey, order us the room service, okay?”

            Cora grumbled, but picked up the hotel phone and dialed the number for room service.

            “Excellent.” Laura grinned as Stiles sat down. “So, we have the pay settled, two thousand dollars a month, and we’ll pay for your travel expenses, as well as any pictures we buy from you, and an additional five hundred dollars for each shoot you do.”

            “That’s it?” Derek asked, sitting up a little more. “That doesn’t seem like that much.”

            “Well, it’s not including the travel expenses, which helps me out because then I can take pictures to sell freelance or broaden my portfolio, not to mention the exposure I get from doing your shoots. And pictures aren’t cheap, so when you buy them, it’ll even out.” Stiles explained. “I agreed to it after all.”

            “What do you mean _when_  we buy your pictures?"  Derek frowned.  "What if we don't decide to buy them."

            “You will. Laura obviously liked the ones that I’ve done, and anything’s better than the atrocities that you have out there already.” Stiles shuddered. “Just about everything I found of you online had awful lighting and poor composition. Some of them weren’t even fully focused. Or whoever was taking the picture didn’t understand the concept of depth of field and were focused a little beside or behind you. Trust me, I can get you pictures you want to buy, even if it takes me one thousand individual shots.”

            Derek scowled, obviously not liking the answer.

            “Derek, I promise, I looked at his pictures and they’re wonderful.” Laura crossed her arms, giving Derek a disapproving look.

            “They can’t be that wonderful, since I’ve never heard of him.” Derek muttered under his breath.

            Stiles was shocked by how rude this guy was being, but didn’t let it show on his face and pretended he just hadn’t heard it.

            Laura looked furious though.

            “Forgive my brother.” She seethed. “He can be a bit unbearable at times.”

            “It’s fine.” Stiles shook his head, biting back a remark about how he had worked with children before.

            “Anyways, the pay has been settled. We said that we’d need you to act as private photographer for at least the next month. We’d like to have you on longer, but figured that one month would be a good trial period. You’ll be responsible for procuring good photos of Derek from his meets, practices, public appearances, as well as portraits. Any photos used in a publication will be fully credited to you, and even if we buy rights to your photos, you’ll be consulted before any editing is done to them, and you’ll be credited wherever those photographs are used.” Laura finished.

            “That’s about the gist of it, right?” Stiles asked. “I’ll travel with you for a month, and we’ll see if this arrangement works out well.”  
            Laura nodded. “Exactly. And hopefully, at the end of this little experiment, there’ll be so many pictures of my brother on Google that nobody will have to see his drowned squirrel picture ever again.” Laura cheered.

            Derek scowled.

            “Okay, so now that we’ve gone over the contract are there any objections?” Laura asked.

            “Yes. I don’t think I need a private photographer.”

            “Objection overruled, Stiles, sign the thing.” Laura handed Stiles a pen and the contract.

            Stiles hesitated, not wanting to piss off his subject, but put the pen to the paper after a moment, signing his signature on it.

            “Okay! Now that business stuff is over, we can relax.” Laura sighed. “Having that hanging over my head was pretty suck-tastic.”

            Stiles chuckled, glad that he’d found a boss who used words like ‘suck-tastic.’

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, here we go! :) I'm still having problems with being fatigued pretty much all the time, so hopefully you guys won't hate me if there are some grammar mistakes or anything like that. ^.^' Feel free to point them out if you find any though, and I'll be sure to fix them!
> 
> As always, all comments and constructive criticisms are hugely appreciated!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Come visit me on Tumblr at http://sterekrunningerrands.tumblr.com/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets to get out and see Venice a little bit, and Derek has practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY. If you follow me on tumblr, you may know that I spilled water all over my computer like a complete dunce, so all the stuff I was working on was TRASHED. Needless to say, I now have a google drive account so that this doesn't happen again. (I still prefer microsoft word, but whatever.) So this chapter was really rushed, because I had to rewrite it completely. (I felt bad that I had taken so long to update in the first place, so I'm going to be rush updating everything I can manage.)
> 
> So anyway, please enjoy! Any comments and constructive criticisms are always appreciated! :)

The next morning Stiles awoke to his phone’s alarm going off.  He squinted at it and sighed, swinging his legs out of the bed and onto the floor as he sat up.  He grabbed his glasses and stood, going about his morning routine as per usual.  Once he was dressed, he made his way out of the hotel, armed with his camera, phone, and wallet, but not much else.

At eight am, the streets of Venice were just starting to wake up, all the tourists asleep in their beds, but the locals up and ready for the day.  

Stiles immediately gravitated toward a coffee shop.  After all, eight am in Venice was two am in New York, where he’d been working before.  He was just glad that he hadn’t flown in from California, where his days would have been flipped almost completely with his nights.  

Stiles thanked the Barista to the best of his ability, then left to explore a little before he was to meet the Hales at noon.

He wandered aimlessly, capturing photos of locals and tourists alike.  He captured the classic shots of the canals and street vendors, as most people do, but he also made sure to investigate a litter deeper.  He took pictures of the olives a salesman had laid out, of course buying a bag for himself as a thank you to the man.  He took pictures of the kids squealing in the streets on their way to school,. And the crumbling architecture of the back streets and abandoned buildings.  

Three hours flew by and the next thing Stiles knew, he was looking for the training center Laura had told him to meet her at.  It took a while, what with his limited Italian skills, but Stiles eventually found the building and strolled into the lobby.  A younger guy working at the desk pointed to a door with an illustration of stairs on it.

Stiles jogged down the stairs and found himself overwhelmed by the scent of chlorine as he stepped onto the pool deck.

“Stiles!”  Laura grinned from the bleachers where she was typing away on her computer.  She patted the seat next to her, obviously telling him to come over.

Stiles cautiously walked around the pool,glancing at the two figures gliding across the water every now and then.  His eyes wandered to a frazzled looking man who was pacing the deck as he watched the swimmers.

Stiles sat next to Laura, turning his gaze away from the swimmers and back to the brunette.

“Is that Boyd then?  Cora said that Boyd was Derek’s trainer…”

“What?  Oh!  God no!  Boyd’s a lot more...chill.  Finstock is practically a basket case.”  Laura shook her head/  “Boyd is Derek's weight trainer.  Normally Derek’s coach is a guy named Alan Deaton, but he broke his hip in a car accident, so while Alan’s recovering, Derek is training with Bobby Finstock or ‘Coach.’”  She explained, looking up from her computer briefly.

“And the other person in the water?”  Stiles asked curiously.

“Jackson.  He’s our cousin...kind of.”  Laura winced a little.  “His biological father is our uncle, but Jackson was given up for adoption because my uncle doesn’t really like kids, and Jackson’s biological mother was in the middle of finishing her Masters.”  

“Oh.  Wow.”  Stiles winced in sympathy.  “Sounds complicated.”

“Yep.”  Laura agreed, popping the P.  “But anyways, we’re going to get lunch after Derek has shower and everything.  You’re free to come with us of course.”

Stiles nodded.  “I might take you up on that.”  

“Great.”  Laura smiled.  “After lunch, we were wondering if we could get started with the photos.  We really need to update what little online presence Derek has.”

Stiles chuckled.

“Sounds like a plan.  Were you thinking just plain old business-y headshots?  I could take some more portrait-like photos, maybe some action shots?”

“Hmm.”  Laura considered it.  “We’ll have to get at least one boring headshot, but a couple more interesting pictures could work to our advantage as well, I guess.”

“Awesome.”  Stiles grinned.  “Does Derek have more practice later?”

“Of course.”  Laura rolled her eyes.  “He’s only been swimming for four hours, and weight lifting for two.  He’s probably going to swim at least two more hours, if not four.”

Stiles winced at the thought of so much activity.

“Well, that will actually work to our advantage then.  Every athlete will eventually need some kind of photo of them in their element.  Plus, I can do some professional development while he practices!”  

“Professional development?  Like classes?”  Laura asked, confusion clear in her voice.

“Nah.”  Stiles shook his head.  “I like to think that ‘professional development’ in photographer translates to ‘dicking around with my camera until I find something new that looks really cool.’”

“Oh!”  Laura laughed.

“Ooh, Photography Guy is funny then?”  A blonde woman asked as she sat next to Laura, raising a meticulously maintained eyebrow.

“Yep.  You would have known that already if you had come to dinner last night.”  Laura rolled her eyes.

“You must be Erica then, right?”  Stiles nodded, putting a hand out in front of him.  “I’m Stiles.  Or Photography Guy, if that’s what you prefer.”

“Oh, did you guys talk about me last night?”  Erica flipper her hair, but smiled, shaking Stiles’ hand firmly.

“Yes, lots.  They were at least 30% good things too.  We talked about that first night we were in Italy when you got seven different kinds of smashed and Boyd had to drag you out of the hotel’s bar.”

“Hey!  It only happened once!  Plus it was my birthday.  I’m pretty sure it’s a law that you have to go hard on your birthday!”  Erica insisted, her cheeks not coloring one bit.

“She’s right.”  Stiles nodded sagely.  “It’s universal law.  You gotta.”

Laura rolled her eyes, which were still fixed on her laptop.

Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but halted when he heard the slapping of bare feet on tile and looked up to see Derek in all his glory.  

His skin was lightly tanned, likely from the small amounts of time he spent in the Venetian sun.  His abs were gorgeous of course, but his shoulders were ridiculous; broad and muscled.  Stiles felt his eyes start to drift south, and squeezed them shut, closing his mouth.  He did NOT need to look at Derek in a speedo, because everything would go downhill from there.

“Are you done?”  Derek was scowling when Stiles opened his eyes again.

“Sorry?”  Stiles asked, flushing a little.  This guy probably wasn’t even gay.  Pl,us, Stiles was a professional anyways!  “I was just thinking about portraits later.  The sun outside is really harsh today, so we should be able to get really good shadows and texture on your muscles.” He rambled, hoping that it all sounded technical enough to be innocent.

“Anywho, go get dressed Derek.  We’re eating in a bit.”  Laura hummed as she packed up her laptop.

Derek grunted in reply and stalked off towards the men’s locker room.  Once he was through the door, Laura turned to Stiles, eyes sharp as a hawk.

“You cannot let that happen again.”  She warned

“What?”  Stiles asked, knowing that guilt was already on his face.

“You know what I'm talking about.  Derek doesn't have time to have a relationship, and he’s not mentally in a place where he can handle a fling.”  Laura looked down at her bag.  “If you keep checking him out, he won’t be able to trust you.”

Stiles sighed and shook his head.

“You’re completely right.  You can trust me though.  I know that Derek is insanely beautiful, but I’m a professional.  I’ve worked with models before, both female and male.  I know better than to hit it off with a client like that.  My eyes just got a little ahead of my brain, but I will not let it happen again, I swear.”  Stiles promised.

“Good.”  Laura nodded, heading toward the door,

“Stiles…”  Erica sighed.  “Please make sure you keep that promise.  You seem like a good guy.  I really do think that Derek will warm up to you.  He could use some more friends.”

Stiles nodded, grinning a little.

“I mean, almost everyone warms up to me with time!”  Stiles internally winced.  That was 400% not true.  There were countless people who had never warmed to his particular brand of sarcasm.  Stiles just had to hope that Derek didn’t get too close, because truthfully, he didn’t know if he wanted to hold back, even if it lost him his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading! Comments and constructive criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated!
> 
> Come say hi to me on tumblr at sterekrunningerrands.tumblr.com :)

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeey everyone. I'm not feeling super hot, so I decided to write a bit! I recently went to a large convention and I'm like 90% sure I caught some sort of horrible disease there, so I'm very sorry if this is only half coherent. 
> 
> Here's to my new years resolution to go swimming more often! :)
> 
> There will be more to this story, I just wanted to get a good amount up before I had to go somewhere tonight (I know, it's so dumb that the world doesn't just chill when I'm sick!) 
> 
> AS ALWAYS! All comments and criticisms are appreciated and welcomed! Also, please tell me if this sucks. I thought it was a super duper idea a couple days ago, but now I'm really "meh" about it. But then again, I'm kind of "meh" in general at the moment.
> 
> WELP! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and are having a wonderful 2016 so far! :)
> 
> Ta ta for now,
> 
> -me


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